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Thursday, August 06, 2009

Pirate Hunter by Tom Morrisey

I enjoy this type of novel. It is two short novels that alternate chapters. The stories are connected by theme and location.

The modern times story follows Greg Rhode, a new member of a salvage team. The team investigates and recovers treasure from shipwrecks. He is assigned to work with another scientist named Sheila. He falls for her. Over the course of the story we see their relationship develop. Greg has a problem with his father over events that happened in the past. Sheila tries to help them reconcile.

The pirate storyline focuses on Bold Ted (the name given to him by the captain). Ted was a slave being transported by ship. The ship was attacked by a pirates. The captain recognized the training Ted had received and freed him. Ted chose to join the crew. This storyline shows how Ted’s life develops once he becomes a free man. He finds out that the bishop who raised him was involved with slavery. Ted vows to kill him. Ted falls in love with a friend of the captain’s wife. He has to decide whether to continue being a pirate and exact his revenge or walk away from his past and begin a new life. Ted’s life follows the same basic path as most Christians. Most people probably do not suffer as a physical slave but we are slaves to sin. Until we reach the point where we can walk away from our sins, we will not completely turn our life over to Christ. Ted’s story is an exciting tale that reflects our walk with God.

While the modern story is good, I thought it was slowed down by too many details about the explanations of the treasure hunters’ job. A little less info-dump would have made this a better story. The pirate story had the perfect mix of information and storytelling. When the book ended, I still wanted to read more of their story.